In Sindh, motorway encroachments hit the brakes on inter-city bus terminal

Even if encroachments are cleared, proposed location is ‘too far’ from city, say transporters

KARACHI: Encroachments along the motorway have proved to be a stumbling block for the provincial transport department in the process of ensuring land for setting up its new inter-city bus terminal. As a result, the Board of Revenue, despite Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah’s formal approval, has been unable to provide the required land in the designated area to the transport department.

Murad had directed the land utilisation department to allot 100 acres of land on the motorway for constructing the inter-city bus terminal, following the approval of the summary sent to him by the Punjab transport department.

Presiding over a meeting on February 4, the chief minister had inquired about the progress of the proposed inter-city bus terminal. In response to this, he was told that the required land for the project had yet not been allotted due to the encroachments on the motorway.

Irked by the reply, the minister had issued directives to the Board of Revenue to ensure availability of the required land within 15 days from the meeting. However, despite the stern directives, the department of land utilisation has remained unable to vacate the land for the bus terminal, leaving the project at a standstill.

Later, the issue of land allotment was also discussed in a meeting of the land reservation committee, held on February 11. The committee, headed by Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Shah, had granted 328 acres of land for various projects in the province but deferred the matter of inter-city bus terminal for the same reason.

According to official sources, the land utilisation department had identified the required land near the Northern Bypass for establishing the inter-city bus terminal in Karachi but could not transfer it to the department due the encroachments on its premises. However, it is not the first time that land identified for a project has been encroached upon. The government has twice identified land for the project since 1990, but the said land was encroached upon at both instances.

On the other hand, Sindh transport secretary Ghulam Abbas Detho, believes the matter is under process and will soon be resolved. Talking to The Express Tribune, he disclosed that the matter was raised in a meeting presided by Chief Secretary Sindh, to which the Board of Revenue has sought another 15 days to resolve the issue.

Transporters operating inter-city buses, however, are not in agreement with the provincial government’s proposed location for the terminal for Karachi-bound buses, even if the encroached land is somehow vacated. In their opinion, the proposed location is too far from the city and therefore not feasible for both transporters and commuters.

“The designated land for the terminal is full of encroachments. But even if the encroachments are somehow cleared, it is around 45 kilometres away from the city and considering that, we will not run our buses on that route,” said Bus Owners Association leader Murad Khan Durrani.

According to him, the transporter community is engaged in making alternate arrangements for a new terminal through its own resources. “We have identified some 30 acres of land around Gutter Baghicha near the Lyari Expressway and we are in the final stages of acquiring a formal approval from the relevant authorities,” Durrani disclosed.  “This location will be more suitable for the bus terminal and offer easy access to the commuters and the transporters,” he added.

As per Durrani, their organisation is invested in setting up the terminal at the location as soon as the official matters and the paperwork are dealt with. According to him, the inter-city buses will utilise the Lyari Expressway from Sohrab Goth to reach this location and after the completion of the inter-city bus terminal, they will stop running their buses within the city.

“Currently, there are some 300 buses utilising city stops on a daily basis but once the terminal is ready, we will no longer use Taj Complex, Cantt Station and Passport Office stops and instead the buses will come from and leave for different destinations of Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and other parts of the country from the new inter-city terminal,” he explained. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2020.